American Express is back with another incentive to move your points to one of its transfer partners: Amex is offering a 25% bonus when transferring American Express Membership Rewards points to Hawaiian Airlines’ HawaiianMiles mileage program. Amex has consistently run this promo once per year in the past — each of which has offered a 25% bonus. You’ll get the bonus when you transfer Amex points to Hawaiian by Jun. 30, 2021.
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Normally you can convert Membership Rewards points to HawaiianMiles at a 1:1 ratio in increments of 1,000 points. With the bonus, you get 25% more miles. For example, for every 1,000 Amex points you transfer, you’ll receive 1,250 HawaiianMiles.
Related: Best ways to redeem points and miles on Hawaiian Airlines
Does it make sense to transfer Amex points to Hawaiian?
Hawaiian Airlines doesn’t have the strongest award chart, but redeeming miles might make sense if you’re getting a 25% transfer bonus. HawaiianMiles moved to a variable award pricing in 2019 and created different charts for West Coast and East Coast departures. In turn, this eliminated some sweet spots.
That said, there are a few times when it makes sense to transfer your Amex points to HawaiianMiles. Let’s take a closer look.
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Related: Fly Hawaiian Airlines (A321neo) in first class from Portland to Maui
Low-cost award tickets from the U.S. mainland to Hawaii
As you can see in the award chart above, the airline has multiple redemption bands. You’ll generally find cheaper award prices on low-demand dates — think back-to-school season and the lull between holidays. The cheapest Hawaiian awards from the mainland are discounted West Coast to Hawaii tickets, which start at 17,500 HawaiianMiles, or 14,000 Amex points with the transfer bonus.
That said, I’m not able to find any award prices at this level at the moment. There are, however, many awards at the 20,000-mile level, which is just 16,000 Amex points one-way with the current transfer bonus. This is a great deal for using Amex points to get to Hawaii.
I’ve found flights from the East Coast — including Boston (BOS) to Honolulu (HNL) — for 30,000 HawaiianMiles one-way, or 24,000 Amex points with the transfer bonus.
Related: The best ways to get to Hawaii using points and miles
Flights from Hawaii to Asia and the South Pacific
Hawaiian also operates an international route network from Hawaii to countries in Asia and the South Pacific. This includes Seoul (ICN), Sydney (SYD), Tahiti (PPT) and a handful of cities in Japan, among others. Award prices vary based on your destination and which award band your tickets fall into. You can see the full award chart on Hawaiian’s website.
The cheapest tickets are from Hawaii to Pago Pago and Tahiti, which start at just 24,750 miles one-way in economy class if discounted award space is available. Business-class flights on the same routes start at 47,500 miles one-way, which can be an excellent deal if you need to fly one of these routes.
Related: The best ways to get to Tahiti using points and miles
Inter-island award tickets
Further, inter-island flights run as low as 7,500 miles one-way, or 6,000 Amex points with the transfer bonus. This can be great if you’re planning to visit multiple islands on your next trip to Hawaii or if you’re a local that wants to visit friends and family on another island.
Related: Everything you need to know about visiting Hawaii
Bottom line
Transferring Amex points to HawaiianMiles with a 25% bonus can be a good deal if you already have a flight you’d like to book. You’ll find the best deals on discounted economy tickets from the mainland U.S. to Hawaii. If you want to try Hawaiian’s business class product and find low-cost find award space, business class can be a good deal too.
If you recently applied for The Platinum Card® from American Express and are wondering how to get the most value from your sign-up bonus, read our guide to the best ways to redeem 75,000 Membership Rewards.
Additional reporting by JT Genter and Brendan Dorsey
Featured photo of Oahu by Clint Henderson/The Points Guy
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Editorial Disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airlines or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.
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